After Judge Sonia Sotomayor was nominated to replace Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) joined with conservatives in declaring her an “activist” judge. “If I look at her philosophy, her legal philosophy, which I think is very activist in nature,” said Graham in May. But after three days of confirmation hearings, Graham appears to have changed his mind:

GRAHAM: And here’s what I will say about you. I don’t know how you’re going to come out on that case. Because I think fundamentally, judge, you’re able after all these years of being a judge to embrace a right that you may not want for yourself. To allow others to do things that are not comfortable to you, but for the group, they’re necessary. That is my hope for you. That’s what makes you, to me, more acceptable as a judge and not a activist. Because a activist would be a judge who would be chomping at the bit to use this wonderful opportunity to change America through the Supreme Court by taking their view of life and imposing it on the rest of us.

“Joe the Plumber — you can quote me — is a dumbass. He should stick to plumbing.”

I wonder, if in a future unguarded moment of candor, Miss McCain will blurt out the name of the person responsible for elevating all of these “dumbasses” to the national stage.

I believe she calls that person “dad.”

Hypocris-C Street July 16: Another veteran of C Street, former Rep. Chip Pickering, R-MS, is alleged to have had an extramarital affair. This is the same secretive Washington D.C. residence linked to Sen. John Ensign, R-NV, and Gov. Mark Sanford, R-SC. Rachel Maddow is joined by Harper's Magazine contributing editor Jeff Sharlet.

I had a friend in grad school who worked at a wine store where he was able to buy wine at one-third off the normal price and without paying California sales tax (then 8%). This, he concluded, gave him a 41.3% discount, and I was never able to convince him otherwise. He and Dennis Prager should take a class together:

Hewitt: Let’s cover this 23, 30% divide Dennis. If we can. If I want a dollar for a pencil at the end of the transaction, I make a pencil I want to have a dollar in my pocket, I’m going to have to charge $1.30 under the Fair Tax plan. Do you call that a 23% tax or a 30$ tax?

Prager: Ok. I have mulled this thing over, and over, and over, and I don’t know of much in life where truly the way one phrases the question gives you a different response. That’s one way of stating the statement. The other is I charge a dollar for a pencil and you pay me 23%, therefore you are in fact going to pay $1.23 for the pencil. That is 23%.

This blog has repeatedly wondered aloud whether Sarah Palin would be able remain hugely popular among Republican voters, now that her resignation has shown that the Alaska governorship was too big a fish tank for the Bailin’ Barracuda to handle.

Well, the new Gallup poll shows that she’s still far and away the most popular GOP figure among Republicans and Republican-leading independents (click to enlarge):

Palin retains an astronomical favorability rating of 72%. No one else in the Republican Party can touch her. Current Republican officials such as Michael Steele, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner just aren’t anywhere near being in her league.

What’s that say about today’s GOP? I really wonder what smart Republican consultants would have to say about this.

A source sends over the latest fundraising email from the RNC, which employs an interesting phrase to tar Congressional Dems on health care and the economy:

The RNC believes your voice should be heard before the Obama Democrats nationalize almost one fifth of our economy, incur trillions of dollars in new spending and debt, and begin rationing health care to the American people.

Your opinion on the many domestic and foreign policy issues that America faces has been vital. The future of health care in America is so important — especially as Obama Democrats are moving swiftly to bring European-style socialized medicine here — that I am asking for more of your grassroots insight today.

That’s why I hope you will take a moment right now to fill out online our Future of American Health Care survey. Your input will help Republican leaders in Washington, D.C. and across America know where you stand on the Obama Democrats’ nationalized health care plans and the Republican alternative.

It’ll be interesting to see if we’ll hear more of this. Six months ago, the Republican approach was to avoid attacking Obama and to fault Congressional Dems for falling short of Obama’s bipartisan ideal. Now the GOP is stamping Obama’s face on Dems in a manner once reserved for Nancy Pelosi. The specifics of Obama’s agenda have made him a lightening rod for the base, but the GOP is also gambling that his goals are losing broader support.

By contrast, despite the downturn in some polls, Dems continue to believe the public wants Obama to succeed in enacting his agenda. Guess we’ll find out who’s right soon enough.

One thing I’ve noticed is that conservatives like to call whichever health care proposal they’re criticizing at the moment (they oppose all health care proposals because they believe, irrespective of the merits, that a defeat will serve their interests) “Obamacare” even though the proposals are different and often don’t fully reflect the White House point-of-view. What’s interesting about this, to me, is that it’s basically just a tick. The right labeled the Clinton administration’s 1994 proposal “HillaryCare” and they also beat it. So now there’s a new health care debate, so let’s trot out the term “Obamacare.”

Back in the real world, though, Barack Obama is really popular. Probably more popular than any particular health reform initiative. Labeling something “Obamacare” is going to make it more popular. The right should be slagging on Dingellcare and Baucuscare and Doddcare. Nobody knows who those guys are, and people generally take a dim view of members of congress other than their own.